That’s how my weight loss has been lately.  I was going good.  Carefully.  Slowly.  Methodically.  I would slip here or there but no biggie.  Then, I ate a piece of pie (that someone told me was sugar free) and it wasn’t sugar free.  It sent me down the sugar path.  WHOOSH!  Quickly I have been slipping and sliding back down the hill.  It’s time for me to throw myself on the ground to make myself stop.  It’s the only way to stop mid-slope and not slide ALL THE WAY down to the bottom where I started.

I have goals.  Big goals.  Big why’s.  I will share them with you soon but for now, I have to throw myself to the side of this hill so I will stop sliding.

Weight loss is such a slippery slope.  A sucky, slippery slope.

Anyone out there struggling?  Anyone else need to throw themself off to the side of the slope to stop?  I am thinking of starting an accountability group on Facebook if anyone is interested, leave a comment or send me an email.  I would love some accountability to workout and eat right.

No more sliding.  Time to inch our way back up the hill!

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 Down 2.2 for a total of 12.2 total!

WAHOO!  The funny thing is, I am not even trying that hard and I wonder if that is part of the reason I am losing so well.  I am not eating super clean.  I am allowing myself to eat REAL food just in moderation.  I am drinking Shakeology every morning for breakfast and that keeps me from snacking.  I am eating a reasonable lunch and then letting myself have some not so healthy things at dinner time.  I am eating almost 2000 calories a day and losing 1-2 pounds a week.  Now, before you get all “If I ate that much I would gain weight…” mentality, you probably don’t weigh 240 pounds like I do.  But you probably look way better in pictures than I do so give and take.  I would much rather look better in pictures than be able to eat 2000 calories and lose weight.

So…I ask myself this question…”What am I waiting for?”  Why aren’t I putting in 110%?  No, I don’t HAVE to but just think of how much more successful I would be if I WAS putting in 110%.  How much faster would I lose weight?  Am I happy with 12 pounds in a month and a half?  Yes!  But would I be happier with 18 pounds in a month and a half?  Absolutely!  So…what am I waiting for?

What are you waiting for?  Are you putting in 110%?  Are you putting in even 10%?  If you aren’t, I would encourage you to start today!  Start now.  Throw out the Valentine’s candy and get started!  If you need an accountability partner, I’m it.  If you need a coach, I’m it!  If you want to really get healthy and try Shakeology and Beachbody workouts, let’s chat.  I would love to support you and have you do this with me.  I can’t wait to see what this year holds.  If I lose 13 pounds every two months, I will be down almost 80 pounds by the end of the year…not too shabby.

Who’s ready to start?  Who’s with me?  What are you waiting for?

The post What are You Waiting For??? – Weekly Weigh In appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

January 30:

Down 0.8!  Yipee!

February 6

Down 1.4…which was shocking to me because it was the day after the Super Bowl.  We won’t even talk about that…

Now for last week’s weigh in…

And for a grand total of…

10 pounds since January 1.  WAHOO!  Slow and steady.

So…funny story.  I told my students back in January that I wasn’t going to eat any sweets in 2017.  I think they were a little bit shocked and skeptical so they ask my quite often if I have had anything.  Well, they asked me on Valentine’s Day if I had eaten any sweets and I said “NO!” and then I shared with them that because I hadn’t, I had lost 10 pounds since deciding not to eat them.  The whole class erupted in cheering.  One kid even said, “I can tell!”  I thought to myself, “This is better than a Weight Watcher meeting.”

It’s funny how God knows what you need when you need it and gives it to you in the most awkward of ways.  I really was missing the way people would cheer for you every 5 pounds you lose.  Well, when my whole class erupted in cheer, it made me feel so proud of myself!

It wasn’t just not eating sweets that helped me lose the weight thus far.  I also have been working out at home (well at school too) and faithfully drinking Shakeology every day.  That has helped me curb my sweet cravings and has kept me full all morning until lunch time…less snacking.  I am also tracking what I am eating in MyFitnessPal and staying on course with my daily calories (even thought they are a bit high).  I think staying focused on losing one pound a week has also helped me.  The goal doesn’t seem quite so large!

So…while I haven’t been posting as much as I would like to on here, I have been staying the course.

I would also encourage you to share with others what you are doing.  The accountability is so helpful and the encouragement when you reach milestones is amazing…better than a Weight Watcher meeting!

How has your first month and a half been going?  Are you staying the course?  Share in the comments below.

The post Better than a Weight Watcher Meeting – Weekly Weigh In appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

Last week was a rough week.  It was probably one of the roughest weeks in my career.  My teacher family was hurting.  We were hurting badly!  One of my coworker’s daughters was in a horrific car accident and she was airlifted from the crash to the hospital for emergency brain surgery.  Tragic…horrific…awful.  The little girl is a third grader at my school and her mom is a first grade teacher who is a single parent raising two children on her own.  Her daughter had to have brain surgery and is still in a medically induced coma.  My coworker isn’t sure if she is going to be able to return to work this school year because she has to be by her daughter’s side.  She is spending day and night in the hospital with her precious little girl.  So sad and so tragic but we know that God’s hands are all over this precious one.  If you want to read more about it, here is the link to her Go Fund Me account.  If you pray, please pray for Taylor Grace.  She was a miracle baby like our Delaney and we know that God has BIG plans for her future!

Then, later in the week, my best friend’s daughter has some seizures in the car on the way home from school.  They had to take her to the ER in an ambulance and she was in the hospital until Tuesday of this week.  They finally got the seizure medication under control and stabilized but she will have to be on medicine for at least the next few years!

I mean…wow!  Like I said, my work family is really hurting right now and a blog post just doesn’t seem relevant right now.  I will report my weigh in to you because that is a commitment I made to myself!

Down 1.6.  I was so happy!  I worked hard last week to make sure I tracked EVERYTHING.  I went over a few days but I still tracked and I expected to do well on the scale.

My total for this month is 5.4 pounds!  Yes!  I will take it.

Tonight, I encourage you to hug your babies close.  Tell others if you love them.  Don’t hold grudges.  Let go of the past.  Forgive.  Life is so short and so precious and you never know when it will change.

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Alright so hear me out before all of you Dorito lovers come after me!  I LOVE Doritos.  They are so yummy and they fill that afternoon carb craving just perfectly.  However, eating half a bag mindlessly because you are not thinking about what you are putting in your mouth is NOT going to work if you want to lose weight.  Just saying.

This past week was a very interesting one.  We started the week being iced in and ended the week wearing flip flops and t-shirts.  Welcome to Georgia.  I had these intense cravings that I thought were due to being cooped up inside and being “off” my routine.  But…it turned out that Aunt Flo came early and she came pissed for some reason.  So…cramps and cravings and irritability all rolled up into one cute package make me a Dorito eating fool.  Oh…and we ate out a few times.  Eating out is also of the devil if you are trying to lose weight and save money.  Lots of devils in my life this week!

Devils = weight gain.  Thankfully not a ton of weight but a gain nonetheless.

0.2.  For those of you that have been with me for a while, you know I will do whatever it takes if I am close to NOT gaining or hitting a milestone like taking off my bra, using the bathroom, etc.  I didn’t really do much today to try and NOT see a gain because this year isn’t about smoke and mirrors.  It is about REAL life.  REAL ups and down.  REAL devils in your life and how to overcome them.  So, instead of stripping naked and going to the bathroom and waiting 10 minutes, I owned it, recorded it and now I am moving on.

First step – remove the Doritos.  They are gone.  No more Doritos are allowed in my house.  I have removed all the sweets and now the junky carbs are gone.  Set yourself up for success!  Next, no more eating out.  This week, I will cook ALL meals.  We spend too much money when we eat out and I eat too many calories.  So, this week I will cook.  I will plan and I will shop and I will cook.

I did good last week on exercise hitting four days.  This week, I will try to continue that momentum and hit four days again.  I can at least get in workouts on the weekends!  Working out 2-3 days after school is going well for me too so I will keep that up.

This week, I will encourage you to remove the devils from your life.  What food is holding you back?  What do you immediately reach for when you are stressed/bored/sad/happy?  Find it and throw it in the garbage.

How was your week last week?  Share your devil in the comments below and get ready to see success this week!

The post Doritos are the Devil – Weekly Weigh In appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

I did really well for the whole week until the weekend hit.  And we got ice and a little bit of snow.  And I wanted to eat, eat, eat.  I ate too many Doritos and drank some wine (not normally a big drinker).  I didn’t work out after Thursday and took some naps.  We really didn’t leave the house until Sunday afternoon and that was just to get out.  Then, they cancelled school for today.  So…hubs and I went to a movie and got out of the house (not too much ice around us).  Now, they have cancelled school for tomorrow!!!  There is quite a bit of ice in the northern part of the county and it is not really safe for school buses.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for a few unexpected days off, however, the Type A in me doesn’t like not have our normal routine.

But…I will get over it.  I’m already over it!

I do need to workout tomorrow though.  That is a must!

So, onto this morning’s weigh in.

I was very hesitant to weigh in.  I knew it was Monday and I was going to weigh in whether I liked it or not.  I am still not really sure why I was so hesitant.  I ate on track.  I tracked what I ate.  I got in a good workout twice.  I didn’t eat any sweets.  I did have some wine.  Overall, I did quite well.  I think overall we just need to trust the process and stop worrying so much of whether or not it is going to work.

Anyway…I stepped on the scale and was pleasantly surprised to see a loss.

4 pounds to be exact!  I was shocked and happy and ready to rock out week number 2.

So…please, I beg of you.  Don’t look at how far you have to go.  Don’t doubt the process and if it will work.  Don’t NOT start because you aren’t sure if you will be successful.  Start now.  Today.  Make small changes and see what happens.  You can do this!  I can do this.  We will do this one day at a time!

How was your week last week?  Did you have a crazy weekend like I did?

The post Quit Doubting – Weekly Weigh In appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

Delaney’s room is my favorite room in the house.  I could sit in her rocking chair for hours and just look around me.  You know why?  Because there isn’t any clutter.  Everything has a place and everything is in its place.  And it is so cute if I say so myself!  I want my whole house to be that way.  I want everything to have a place so piles do not form.  I want my classroom to be that way (it is so much better thanks to a bestie who every year comes in and throws stuff away!).  I want to have organization and I want to be clutter free.

So…one of my main goals this year is to organize my house from top to bottom.  That task seems huge, right?  Well, I have decided to break it down room by room and month by month to make it more manageable.  Here is my schedule:

Jan/Feb – Kitchen and Living Room

March/April – Master Bedroom

May/June – Upstairs Office

July/August – Delaney’s Room and Guest Bedroom

Sept/Oct – Garage

Nov/Dec – Bathrooms

Now, knowing that the end of the year is the craziest time of year, I have saved the easiest spaces for those months realizing I most likely will not get much done during that crazy time of year!  The times when I have breaks, I made some bigger rooms because I know I will be home for a week and can tackle it.  Now, keep in mind that this means an entire overhaul of the space.  I will touch every drawer, closet, and knick knack and I will either find a permanent location for it or I will toss it.  That is why I have given myself two months for each space.  I have also grouped a big space with an easier one so it is not too overwhelming!  First goal of 2017 is to have my whole house decluttered by New Year’s of next year!  Let’s just hope I am not scrambling right at the end to try and get it all done!

My next goal of 2017 is to lose at least a pound a week.  52 pounds isn’t too shabby.  I would love to lose more than a pound a week but to start, I just want to see the scale go down.

How am I going to do that?

Well, for starters, I have cut out all sweets.  No more sugar in my coffee, no more desserts, no more chocolate here or there.  Sweets are my weakness and unfortunately, I cannot do moderation so I have cut out all sweets for the year.

I also purchased Beachbody’s new All-Access Pass which gives me access to ALL of their workouts for the whole year.  I will be working out at school as much as possible and when that doesn’t happen, I will workout at home.  I am excited to try some of their programs that I had not yet purchased like Piyo and Core de Force.  I am excited to workout and see my body change with some exercise (it’s been a few months!).

As far as what eating plan I am going to do, I am not sure yet.  I might just clean eat, I might track in My Fitness Pal or I might use the 21DayFix eating containers (which is just clean eating and portion control put together).  I have seen such success on all of those that I am having a hard time figuring out which one is right for me at this point in my life!  I will make a decision soon and let you know!

My last goal for 2017 is to budget and get out of debt except for the house and hubby’s car.  We have quite a bit of medical debt from Delaney’s NICU stay and we owe some money for some unexpected house/car repairs.  We want to pay that off and be debt free by the end of the year.  In order to do this we will budget and then stick to the budget.  We probably will not go on vacation this year, we are cutting way back on eating out, and we are NOT buying coffee out every day (this one stings…I love Dunkin’ Donuts coffee).  We will also use Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball plan…if you haven’t read his books, do it!  They are inspiring and so motivating!  My husband and I are committed to getting out of debt and I really feel like we can if we put our minds to it and work together!

Those are my three goals for 2017.  I feel they are do-able and I feel good about these!

I will also be making smaller, monthly goals so look for those!

What are your goals for the New Year?  Share in the comments below!

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This came to me the other night in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep.  I was thinking about 2016 and how I could make my health a priority in 2017 and God spoke this word to me…balance.

Last year was amazing but it was very unbalanced.  I was adjusting to being a new mom, taking care of an infant/toddler, working full time and running a household.  It was VERY different from what I was used to and I felt like life was not balanced.  This year, I want more balance in my life.

I know if I don’t take care of myself, I can’t take care of Delaney.  I know she needs me to be the healthiest me I can be.  I know Jason needs a healthy wife who is around for many more years to come.  I know my parents are getting older and they need me to be healthy so I can help take care of them when they need me!  My students need me to be healthy and have more energy so I can be the best teacher I can be.  EVERYONE needs me to be healthy but most importantly, I need me to be healthy so I can live life to the fullest.

Too much of one thing is not good.  In life, we must have balance.  This year, while I want to be the best mom I can be, I will also have balance.  If it means asking someone to watch Delaney while I work out, so be it.  If it means I put her in a confined space in order to cook a healthy meal, so be it.  If it means leaving Delaney with a sitter (relative) so Jason and I can have a date night, so be it.  This year, I will strive to show more balance in life.

That being said…I do have a few goals in mind but you will have to wait to hear those.  Can’t reveal all in ONE post!

What is your word for 2017?  Make it a good one and then live by it as best you can!  You never know the impact your word will have on you!

The post 2017 – The Year of Balance appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

Let’s talk about 2016 for a minute.

It rocked!  Seriously, it was amazing in almost ALL aspects of life!

First, let’s talk about the obvious…

Delaney Grace is the coolest human being to ever walk crawl the planet…(we are working on that walking thing).  Seriously, to see her grow and change and develop her little …er I mean…HUGE personality is so cool.  She is so opinionated and knows exactly what she wants and lets us know exactly what she wants.  She babbles non stop and has so much to say…she can’t understand why we don’t know what she is saying.  She finally has grown hair and it will certainly be curly when it decides to come in more.  Her blue eyes mesmerize everyone who sees her!  Thank goodness for those blue eyes!  She is happy most of the time and loves to wave at people in any store!

My job is going great!  I went back to work in January after a long 5 months off and got right back in the swing of things!  I had an amazing lady to take care of Delaney while I was at work so I felt very blessed to have that option!  Jason’s job is great and we are very thankful that he has a job that he enjoys and he is so helpful to others!

We went on a few vacations this year and ended up at the beach TWICE!  First, we went to Hilton Head this summer with my family and then I took Jason on a surprise trip to Destin for his 40th birthday just this month!

Like I said, we are very blessed to have such a great year!

Other than that, this year, I was PRESENT most times I was with Delaney.  Working full time gives me limited time to be with her and when I am, all I want to do is BE with her.  This means chasing her around nonstop, playing on the floor, reading books, feeding her and just BEING with her.  Unfortunately, other things in my life have been put on the back burner because of this.  The biggest of all being my health and weight.  I have let myself gain quite a bit over the last year by not cooking dinner, eating out, eating crap and not taking time to exercise.  I did great over the summer with 21DayFix but then, after work started back, I let myself go.  None of my clothes fit me anymore and I can’t wear anything in my closet or drawers except the few things I have bought in the last few months.

It is time.

It is time to put my health back as a priority and get some of this weight off.  I am guessing I am around 255 now.  That is purely a guess but I will find out on Monday when I do my initial weigh in.  I WANT 2017 to be a year of being PRESENT with Delaney but also taking time for ME and MY health.  My husband and I both are in agreement about this!  It is so much easier when everyone in the house is on the same page!

So, here’s to 2017 and a year of health and happiness!  How was your 2016?  When you reflect back on your year, what is the one thing you are thankful for?

The post Goodbye 2016! appeared first on It Sux To Be Fat.

I started back to school in August…with kids.  I actually started back to work in the end of July.  Crazy, right?  Us southern folk don’t know what summer is…

So, what’s been going on with me…

Her…

And school.

And working out.

And trying to eat better.

And not weighing…

Let’s start with her…she’s sick.  Our first fever and it sucks.  Last night was so stressful.  We just sit and cried together.  I have been calling her my hot pocket because her little body is so hot.  Fevers suck!

On a happier note, she turns one in a week and a half!  How did that happen?!?

School…is awesome.

I have a great class and this is going to be a great year.  I have a great team of teachers and we have FUN.  Isn’t that how it should be!?!

School and working out are going together these days.  I am working out almost every day after school with a few fellow teachers in my classroom.  What is great about that is when we don’t really want to, at least one of us motivates the others to do it anyway.  I have been working out almost every day, before I go home and I don’t have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to do it!  This is truly a lifesaver for me and working out.  Oh…and we all LOVE it.  The workouts are so much fun!  We have been doing Country Heat and Cize which are both dance workouts.  No weights involved and no burpees or situps (thank the Lord).

Trying to eat better…this one is the kicker.  I eat really well for breakfast (Shakeology shake) and have a healthy salad for lunch but dinners and after work are where I struggle.  I have done pretty well lately so I am just hoping to keep the momentum going.  We made a goal for this week to not eat out once.  We are just so tired at night after working all day and the last thing we want to do is cook.  I think I need more healthy crockpot recipes…maybe I should check out my own Pinterest board!

So, on to the last point of interest…not weighing.  I took a scale hiatus after this summer with school starting.  I will weigh again on Labor Day and post the results.  Weighing helps keep me accountable.  The scale needs to be dusted off.  Although, I think I am still where I was after finishing the 21DayFix.  My clothes still fit the same so that is a good sign.

So, to wrap up my August, I have been chugging along nicely.  Work didn’t overtake me this year like it has in the past and things are really great!

Starting a new year with a baby was totally different than the last 16 years but it was oh so nice!  I am so blessed and loving life.  Now, if I could just get some of this fat off my body…that would be swell.  Working on it…slowly but surely…working on it!

How are things with you?  Are you ready to get healthy?  Want to join me with an accountability group starting after Labor Day?  Message me or comment and I will get you started!  Let’s do this!

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